Companionship
by Caelestis
Summary: -Complete- Tsume has always relied on himself – now he is faced with his emotions towards Kiba, ones that he never thought he’d feel. The complication, however… what happens when instinct overrides sanity?


**Title: **Companionship   
**Author name:** Caelestis Tennyo  
**Author email:** kaku_o_sankou@yahoo.com  
**Category:** angst/drama

**Pairing:** Tsume/Kiba  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Tsume has always relied on himself – now he is faced with his emotions towards Kiba, ones that he never thought he'd feel. The complication, however… what happens when instinct overrides sanity?  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own or claim any rights to characters used in this story – if you sue me you'll only get used schoolbooks and broken pencils. ^_^

Note: I've only seen the first five episodes of Wolf's Rain, so we'll just lie back and see if this works out. Thank you Chanchan!!

  Tsume growled softly to himself as he looked out over the barren wastes from his vantage point on a high, pewter colored plateau. They had been traveling for days, him and his makeshift 'pack'. The four had left the city after being chased, no hounded, though the mazes of pipes and crumbling bricks by inept humans. The nerve… no, the _gall _that men had was beyond him_._ Now, hungry, tired, and worn out, he just wished for a small moment of peace.

  He had always been solitary but the three other wolves that accompanied him…  suffice to say that they didn't leave him alone. Toboe… well, the kid was growing on him. He had never wanted a cub of his own, but the little tyke had a way of getting under your skin… making you get protective. Out of the three, Hige was the most annoying. Always whining… you just couldn't shut him up. And then… there was Kiba. The wolf was a mystery to him. At times he seemed to be compassionate of his companions, but then turned aloof and mysterious as if showing weakness was beyond him. Tsume narrowed his eyes slightly as the sun crept below the horizon. Sort of like him.

  The gray wolf turned as he heard the soft padding of one of his companions approach him from behind. The steps were soft on the gravel-strewn granite, alluding to the wolf's natural grace and bearing. A sharp wind caressed Tsume, stirring his strikingly white hair as it caressed his cheek lovingly. The sharp angles of his face were brought into relief as the rays of the full moon struck him, the hollows painfully apparent in the dim light. 

  "Tsume. I thought I'd find you here." Kiba stated matter of factly as he moved to stand beside the tall, battle scared man. His already tousled brown hair was thrown into greater disarray as another gust of wind picked up. His warm blue eyes reflected the moon with such a crystal-like clarity that Tsume found himself thinking a word he never had before in his life. There had been no need. _Beautiful_…

  "Hn." His gaze returned to the arid dunes in the distance. "You have no idea where this so called 'paradise' is, do you?"

  "I know enough." The tone was full of a certain confidence… it was just dripping warmth, along with a coldness that could only come with the harsh knowledge of reality. The white wolf had certainly seen things. How then could he keep his idealistic nature?

  "A lack of knowledge could get us killed. Not that this half-life is any better." Tsume responded, feeling slightly despondent. A sharp spice assaulted his nostrils, tangy and pungent, as it was soft and enticing. Where did that come from? There were no trees around here.

  "Tsume…" Kiba whispered. "Can't you just believe? There isn't anything else to believe _in,_ these days. We can't do any worse than we have been, can we?"

  Tsume held back a sardonic snort of laughter. "I was just thinking something along those lines."

  They fell into a silence for a short time, both wrapped up in his own thoughts to pay more than the slightest attention to the other. This also implied a certain trust had been reached between them, as they were no longer on guard for the slightest attack. The silence stretched through the night until the sun's golden rays broke over the mountain once again, signaling yet another dawn. Sighing, Tsume turned and started back to the wolves impromptu campsite. Perhaps they would be able to cover more land today.  

  Several days passed, the group becoming even more restless as their hunger rose. Hige found a dead deer and split it with the cub. Tsume refused to touch the revolting carcass, and instead decided to head out on his own. Much to his surprise, Kiba let him go, making no attempt to stop him. Grudgingly, his opinion of the white wolf rose a little higher. Then… the cub had tracked him into the ruins of one of the ancient cities, much to his dismay, dragging a metal robot after him that seemed to be intent on killing them both. Kiba… Kiba had saved him. 

  Tsume found himself looking to the sky once again, as he had been several weeks before. This time, he was seated comfortably on a dusty cave floor, a small fire feeding the cave little warmth. The others were resting in a different cave once he had convinced them of his need for solitude.

  Kiba… He sighed, wincing slightly as his motion disturbed his wounds. That blasted robot had been bursting at the seems with ammunition – just his luck that he had been picked on to receive it's services. Back there it had seemed like everything was spiraling downward as the thing pointed it's cold metal hand at him, a spiral that ultimately ended in his death. Then, out of nowhere, Kiba, that damned white wolf, jumped out and led it away saving him once again. The look in his eyes…

  "Ano…" Kiba said softly from the entrance to Tsume's cave, jerking him from his thoughts. His body stance implied a sense of nervousness; he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot. Deciding to let him continue, Tsume kept his response to a minimum. 

  "Nani?"

  "Gomen ne…"

  Tsume blinked. "What for?" This was the last thing he had expected. 

  "When we first met… I attacked you and killed some of your men. Heh, I suppose it wasn't the best way to meet." Kiba's eyes were downcast from was Tsume could see, his attention focused on the pile of dirt before him. The white wolf that had always been alert and energetic was now depressed. And somehow, it didn't sit well with Tsume the abrupt change in his companion's personality… especially after what had happened last night.

  "Why the sudden change of heart? What about all that pride you were talking about?" Tsume sniped. 

  "I… never mind." Kiba slipped gracefully to the ground. Tsume looked at him in mild shock. The scent from before… it was coming from him? Demo… that meant…

  He shook his head to clear it and spoke this first thing that came to mind. "So the kid and the other guy… where are they?"

  Kiba shrugged. "I left them sleeping by the fire. We started one in one of the smaller caves."

  He didn't press Tsume for any reasons about his question, but just sat and started up into the luminescent face of the moon, or what could be seen from their vantage point in the cave. Sitting there like that he appeared almost… surreal. Tsume found himself moving to sit beside the white wolf despite his better judgment. Something was calling him to Kiba… perhaps calling them both.

  Tsume looked over at his companion and were lost in his eyes. Pools of pain and tired spirits they mirrored each other in a way no other could.

  Tsume snarled slightly, breaking the spell that he had been under. He wasn't ready to take a mate and settle down. He wasn't ready period. But… the heady pine scent that Kiba was covered in was enough to tempt the most stalwart of creatures. It filled his senses and seduced him in a way no other could. Falling into the azure eyes of Kiba he released his inhibitions with a groan, capturing his would be mate's lips in a chaste kiss. Instincts be dammed… not was not the time for this!

  Kiba sighed, allowing Tsume and himself this brief respite from this pain. Maybe… maybe something good would come of this whole mess.

  "Kiba…" Tsume muttered. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

  He shook his head. "I didn't think it would come so soon."

  "What about your leaf princess?" 

  "No matter. You are who I want now. Who I need" Kiba leaned into the gray wolf's strong embrace. "I… even though we have known each other such a short time… I trust you."

  Tsume's eyes widened slightly with shock. This ethereal creature trusted _him_? The changes that could happen in so short a time… He ran a hand through his short cropped white hair as he pulled back slightly from the embrace.

  "You do know what you're getting into." It was a statement. "I'm not a nice guy, and I don't have any friends. You'd just be hurting yourself."

  The trust that shown in Kiba's eyes touched Tsume more than anything ever could. Unwilling, he felt that unwanted emotion he had done without for so long well up once again in his chest. Respect. Respect for his fellow wolf and a new respect for himself. The problems of the world would come later, but this night was only beginning.

  "I'd be hurting myself more if I didn't, Tsume."

Fin.


End file.
